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It's finally here. Benefit is partnering exclusively with Sephora and bringing their famous Benefit Brow Bar to Canada. I was invited along with other media to go to the grand opening of their location in Sephora at Yorkdale Shopping Centre and check out what the Brow Bar is all about.

The Benefit Brow Bar offers a few brow shaping and facial waxing services, each take about 20-30 minutes. The Canadian Benefit Brow Bar are currently only located inside 3 Sephoras: Dix 30 in Brossard, Sherway Gardens in Toronto, and Yorkdale in Toronto as well. Each brow bar has two arch experts who are highly trained in waxing and tweezing to give their customers their unique brow shaping experience.

The consultation

Brow Mapping

All brow mapped and ready for waxing

I was growing my brow out when I got the invite, so I was glad to have it professionally shaped the very first time! Benefit Arch Expert Kelly helped me understand how their Brow Bar is different from others.

During the brow service, they explain the process clearly and communicate with us to make sure we're okay with the shape they're going for. Kelly first did a Brow Mapping on me determine my unique eyebrows. Everyone's brow shape is different and where it starts and ends, and where the arch goes based on your facial structure. Then she outline my brows and asked me if I am okay with the shape. I actually told her that I would like to keep more of my natural brow hair. The great thing about this process is that the customer can communicate their concerns to the Arch Expert so that she can address their needs with their brow shaping philosophy.

Wax!

Next, it is time to wax. I was a little nervous because it was my first eyebrow waxing experience, and obviously no one wants pain. Benefit uses a vegetarian wax for sensitive skin to minimize irritation. When they applied the wax, placed the fabric, and peeled it off, it didn't really hurt that much. It felt like someone just pinch my eyebrow, which is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. She then proceeded to use a wax remover (that contains nuts, they check with you to see if you're allergic) to clean it up.

Half done... left brow waxed and getting ready to be filled in

The last step was to fill in my brows and make them look pretty. My natural brows are a little shorter than where they should end, so Kelly needed to "cheat" by extending them using the Benefit Instant Brow Pencil in Medium. She then brushed them through using a spooly. (If you're filling them in yourself, the Instant Brow Pencil comes with a spooly on the other end too.) Lastly, to set everything in place and make my brows look fuller, she used the new Gimme Brow in Medium to Dark (reviewed here).

My first professional brow grooming experience was nothing but impressive. I am so happy with how it turned out and I am definitely becoming a loyal Brow Wow Benebabe. I feel that $23 is a very reasonable price for the excellence service you receive. And once you found the right place to do your brows, you really don't want to change it for consistency, am I right? I'm glad that I lost my browginity to Benefit Brow Bad :P.

Just got Brow Wowed!

Afterwards, we got to chat with Benefit National Education Director Ashley Manias about their Brow Bar launch in Canada. The concept for the brow bar is model after the Sephora in Paris. Parisian women really take care of themselves including grooming. They wanted the Canadian Brow Bar to be a unique experience for the customer. Even in a busy environment ala Sephora, Benefit wants to make their customers feel special and getting all the attention from their Arch Experts.

It is no wonder that these people are called Arch Expert. Benefit is very selective when they find their candidates. They will have to have to aesthetician and have waxing experience. They went through intense training to learn everything from waxing to Benefit's signature brow shaping and product knowledge. Being good at what they do is not enough, these Benebabes have to be personable, quirky and fun to fit with the Benefit DNA.

When asked what common concern women have with their brows, Ashley said it is brows looking too thin. Through brow mapping, Arch Expert manipulate the shape of the brows and make them look fuller even when they're taking hair off. We see on runway that bushier brows are in for the past few seasons and women really starts to appreciate the look of fuller eyebrows, but this also mean more maintenance to make them look more in place. Ashley said that what make brows so important is that it really frame your face and lifts the eyes up. It makes a world of difference to have groomed brows even if you're not doing anything else special for makeup (or makeup at all).

Brow grooming is not a female privilege any more, men can also take advantage of the Benefit Brow Bar. Arch Experts would use a different technique by just trimming and light tweeze to keep them in shape. Since waxing gives a really precise line, it is not commonly use on them. They try to make the brows not too groomed to make them still look masculine.

Finally, there is the ribbon cutting ceremony, followed by catching with my blogger friends who were present at the event ^0^.

Of course their ribbon has to be girly and pink!

The giant scissors are so girly and quirky!

Taking picture of Rema taking picture

Look at my new eyebrows and glasses

Rema won the Grand Opening Pageant!

Michele got her Expert Arches... She couldn't stop raving about it!

After you get your first Brows Wowed, it is recommended to go get your brows groomed every 3-4 weeks. Before the grand opening, the Brow Bar had a soft launch 4 weeks ago and we already see returning customers to get their maintenance done. As soon as someone sits on the chair, the buzz starts and the Brow Bar just gets busy all day. So if you're interested in getting your brows groomed, you might want to check them out at the three location they currently have (Dix 30, Sherway Gardens, and Yorkdale). From what I saw, they are busy most of the time, so it might be a good idea to call in advance and get an appointment.

Until this Saturday (Oct 12), at the Benefit Brow Bar inside Yorkdale Sephora, they have having a gift with service, or GWS if you will, to celebrate their grand opening. Each customer who gets a brow service may receive a complementary Benefit makeup bag, while supplies last. So if you're thinking to get it done some time soon anyway, why not take the advantage this weekend and get a cute makeup bag. Say hi to Kelly for me if you go!